Software code sharing is important, as the current state-of-the-art allows for the sharing of subroutines (sometimes called methods) and libraries of subroutines. The term “subroutine” in computer-science typically refers to a named block of code which may have a parameter list and which may have a return value. This block of code can be accessed from within another code block via the use of its name and parameter list. There can be significant amounts of code within the subroutine. Sharing portions of a subroutine is not possible unless the to-be-shared code portion is itself a subroutine. Rather than requiring the entire subroutine be shared, it is more efficient to share only that portion of the subroutine that is required to be shared.
Furthermore, in prior art software development environments, code and software design quickly become disassociated, thus making difficult the task of maintaining code/design and file/database/design association.